Marble-shooter.



G. G. KENNEDY;

Patented May 1 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- .Zhvzra tar;

G. C. KENNEDY.

MARBLE SHOOTER. APPLICATION FILED MN. 5. I915. RENEWED ocr. 12. 1917.

1,266,276. Patented Mayl l, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE COLVIN KENNEDY, 0F WATERLbO, IOWA.

MARBLE-SEO OTER.

Application filed January 5, 1915, Serial No. 661.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE ConvlN KEN- many, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Waterloo, Blackhawk county, Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Marble- Shooters, of which the following is a speci- These objects I have accomplished by the means which are hereinafter described and claimed, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved marble-shooter, with the standards thereon arranged to serve as sighting-means.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said device, inverted, with the standards brought to gether to be used ,as ahandle.

Fig. 3 is a right-hand end elevation of said device inthe position indicated in said Fig. 2, and Fig. 1 is a cross-section of the device taken on the line a-b of Fig. 2..

Fig. 5 is a view, partly in plan and partly in perspective, of the leather marble clip and one of thepair of elastic bands connected thereto.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of an alternative form of my improved marble-shooter.

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the same.

Fig. 8 is a view of the body of my device, as developed on a plane surface.

Similar numerals of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views.

My improved marble shooter comprises a tube 1, formed ofa single plate bent into a hollow cylinder with its longitudinal edges 2 meeting, and having opposite parts removed to provide finger clearance spaces 5.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1918.

Renewed October 12, 1917. Serial No. 196,344.

The numerals 1 1 and 15 denote like rings .formed from strips of material bent circularly, secured by rivets 10 and 12, passed through the ends 9 and 16 and 11 and 17, respectively, and having the longer ends 9 and 11 extending outwardly to form like standardsa These rings are fitted upon the cylinder 1, slidably.

The numeral 6 denotes slots placed in opposite sides oft-he delivery end of said cylindrical tube, and elastic endless rubber bands 7 may be secured in said slots to extend alongside the tube nearly to the openings 5.

In Fig. 5 is shown a strip 8 of flexible material, which may be of thin leather or other material, and whose ends are fashioned into I double-ears or tabs 20 separated by narrow necks 19. Each end of the strip has a perforation 18 just within said neck. The strip has a central orifice 35 in which is secured an annulus 36 to prevent rupture of the strip at this place, Each band 7 is secured to an end of said strip 8 by being looped about the neck 19 and then passed through the perforation 18 before being secured in the slot 6 of said tubes. When said parts have thus been assembled and secured to the tube 1, the strip 8 will span the hollow of the tube between the troughs 3 and 4: on upper and lower sides of the openings 5, and will be held there b the tension of the slightly stretchedrub er bands 7. v

The delivery-end of the tube 1 may be indented outwardly at a place opposite the alinement of the standards 9 and 11,.when in the positionsindicated in Fig. 2, to afford a sight when the device is used for a drop-shot, and when said standards have been brought together to form a handle underneaththe tube. When it is desired to use the device for a rolling shot, the tube 1 I is reversed, and the standards 9 and 11 spread apart, as shown in Fig. 1, the gun then being placed flatly on the ground or other supporting surface, so that the user when it is over the perforation 35, which lattween the finger and thumb of the player,

located correctly over the central pert'ora' tion' with both'bands 7 under equal tension, the marbleinay bepropelled accurately to its goal.

In Fi'gsJG, 7 andS is displayed'a modified forrnof device; used in both 'rnodes'herein before described. In this form of the device the cylinder 23 and the standards 2 l'and-26 are integral, so as to be cheaply stamped out from a plate of metal at one stroke-by dies,

to produce. the flat body shown in Fl -3'8. This body is rolledto for-in the tube 2-3-the1e from, with the spaced standards as "and 26 projecting outwardly in alin'enient'. standardQ-lmay have an opening :25 to serve as a=finger grip when the gun'is inverted as in Fig- Gfor a drop-shot, inwhich case the standard Q6fis also grasped firmly. On opposite sides ofthe plate are projections '28 and '27, so located that when the plate is rolled into a'tube, the wider projection 27 may be-bent' and clenched over the-projection 28 to secure thdabutting edges of the tube together. The tube 23 has, opposite the said standards andon each end,the out wardly indented projections 29 and 30 for fixed sights when the gun is held up for a drop shot,'but whenjthe gun is inverted and laid on the'ground the said standards serve as sights,being long enough to be convenient 0:5 access to theuser when bending toward the ground.- In this form of thedevice, finger openings 31 are-provided on opposite sides, preterably' closed at both ends to strengtlienthe gun structure:

ln 'thls dev c'e 23, s11n1lar bands 33 are-secured between orifices 32-in'the tubeand the ends' of a flexiblestrip 3%,butthe closing in of the outer endsof the openings 31 permits theseope'nings to be extended nearer the delivery-endof the tube, since the standards I Q Lan'd 26 donot nteriere', and so 'the-user may introduce' the'pro ectile niarble'intothe delivery end of the tube with a finger to press both'it and the inclosingstrip Sbaclr far enough into the hollow of the tube as-to permit them to be readily grasp ed with the finger and thumb of the other hand through the openings r The projectile inar-ble cannot escape lfronithe tube except by way "of its delivery end," and the upper and lower trough'ed parts 3'and lot the tube serve to The give direction to the marble, as much as necessary to insure correct delivery.

Having described my invention, What I claim, as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is; i

l. In a device of the character described, a tube having. oppositely-located longitudinal openings to serve as finger-clearance spaces betweenupper and lower troughed parts, a

flexible strip passed through said openings transversely, and yieldable resilient connections between opposite ends of saidstripand the delivery end Qf-Sitldillbl',OPPGSIlEGJBIldS of the tube having parts projected outwardly V integrally alined longitudinally "to serve *as sighting-means.

in a device of the character described,

a tubeand spaced standards fixed thereon, the standards being 'ahned long tudinally to serve either as sighting'nieans, or as handles when inverted, the enchncst standard pro vided with a finger-hold, and projectile' pro-f pell-ing nieans-operatively associated with said tube;

3. l1ra device of the character described;

a tube having integral longitudinally alined standards extending angularlytherefrom, said" tube having oppositelydocat'e'd longitudina'l openings adaptedito serve as finger 1 I clearance spaces at oppositersides of {the standards, I and proj ectile actuating-'- means inovably locatedin the hollow; of the tube and adapted to be propelled therethrough between said finger clearance spaces.=

a. in ad'e'vlcdof the character described,

a tube having longitudinally alined" standards extending angul'arly therefrom, said tube having oppositelyelocated longitudinal openingsadapted "to serve as finger clefar anc'e spaces at opposite sides of said stand-* ards, a fleXible strip seated across the hollow of said tube; andli'ke' elastic'endless-loop connections between 'the' oppositeends of said strip and the opposite sides of the' de"- l livery end of said tube; the ends of said flexi ble strip being: orificed andfforined with; terminal heads as securing-means for said:

looped connections.

5. In a device of the character de'scribed,a

tube having longitudinally alined standards extendingangularly therefroni' in one direcr tion in longitudinal alineinent and formed:

integrally tronra single'piece of materialby being rolled'cylindrically to bring its longi tudinal edges together, and said tube having means adapted to secure said edges together.

6. A device of thecharacter describe dy comprising a platerolled into tubular :form

with meeting longitudinal edges, spaced standards lntegrally extended outward front one of saidedgesnearer one end of the tube than the other,-ir longitudinal alinernent on: the saineside, saidtube havingiopp'ositely' located' longitudinal finger-clearance :opens ings near its end opposite itsdelivery end;

said tube having engaging means at its delivery end of the tube, said bands being unlivery end, a flexible strip located across the der slight tension. 10 interior hollow of the tube with its ends eX- Signed at Waterloo, Iowa, this 21st day of tending outwardly through said finger- December, 1914:.

5 clearance spaces and having engaging-means GEORGE COLVIN KENNEDY.

at each end, and like elastic bands connected Witnesses: between the engaging means on the edges of PEARL STANTON, said strip and the engaging means at the de- W. H. BRUNN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. 0. 

